My Extreme Cleaning Regime (Mostly External)

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Hi all. I've always found that results depend very much on investment. Mostly time investment but some financial investment too. My regime is this.
2 or 3 times a year I'll do a deep clean.....Dont polish or wax for a week or so than do a wash as normal. Next I'll clay it, then I'll use T-Cut paint restorer (I know all the arguments about thinning your paint and stuff but the thing is cars these days have more than a couple of coats of paint, even metalics are quite deep). Next wash it with just clean hot water (Two buckets and a microfibre mitt) and dry it. Do any paint touch-ups at this stage with a pen or the newer scratch removal systems.
Now to make it shiny...
I'll use a pre-wax polish first. It a sort of cutting compound but far less extreme. In theory because I've already used T-Cut restorer there should be no dirt visible on the cloth. There always is and that's why I include this step, it sort of finishes off the paint surface prep. One important thing to do here is to make sure you dont let the polish dry to a haze. It needs to be rubbed off (Dried) before it hazes. All this done and you should have a completely smooth surface - the molecules of the polish filling any "Recesses" on the paint surface. If you run your hand over the paint it should feel like it's just been waxed, but it wont be all that shiny.
Next - waxing. For this 3 times a year regime I use a quality carnuba based wax and apply at least 2 but usually 3 coats.

There you go. A whole day cleaning the car. But, oh my, it's shiny. If you're going to take photos of your car, this is the time.


So, normal cleaning regime. Weekly. Just a standard hand-wash with a washing solution that isn't a wash 'n wax type. I want to wax it with my expensive(ish) wax, not Aldi's waxing compound that makes up 5% of the wash and wax fluid. I'm not precious about the make the car-wash fluid. I'll use elbow-greece to remove stubborn marks. The thing is, because I do the 3-times-a-year deep clean, I dont need an expensive washing solution - soap is soap. Anyways...wash it, then rinse it. Then wash again with clean water - This washing is to ensure all the soap residue is off the vehicle. Dry it with a microfibre mitt. I find them better than chamoise leathers. Up to now - 20mins or so.
Next pre-wax polish - dont let it dry to a haze (Method as in deep clean) - Another 10mins
Finally a coat of wax. Despite me using old-skool wax and all the labour-intensity of that product in the deep clean regime, for the weekly clean I use a bang-up-to-date spray on wax - usually two coats - Another 15mins. So that's just 45 minutes and it looks almost as good as after the deep clean.
I'll spend another 10 mins chamoising the glass and "Back-To Blacking" the trim.

Emergency cleaning. It's Thursday & you get in from work. Wife says that she's booked a table at a nice gaff. It's 4 days since the car was waxed and it's not at it's best. You've not got an hour to complete a weekly clean but you need to have a car that looks like it's just been waxed. My solution is to use the pre-wax polish and lots of cloths or even paper towels. Give the whole car the polish treatment remembering to keep changing cloths as they get dirty very, very quickly and remembering to dry it before it hazes. Now use the spray on wax and buff it to a shine. Need to do the glass and throw a coat of shine on the black trim - 15 to 20 mins. Enough time to get my dancin' shoes and tux on.

As I said it's about investment. I can make the car look new again in the 1 hour weekly washes because I spend the time on the deep clean regime 3 to 4 times a year. I can pull out a very respectable result with the 15 minute mid-week polish and wax because I invest the time in the weekly washes.


So, products... When I had a dark coloured car I tended to use Autoglym products. But they dont seem to perform as well on lighter coloured paints. My 206 is silver and for the past four weeks I've been using Meguires kit. It's hard to get a deep reflective, wet-look shine on lighter-coloured silvers but this brand is quality, proper quality. Yes, relatively speaking, it costs a bomb, but the results bear the costs out. Besides, somewhere, someone is doing a deal on Meguires stuff, there's always deals on the web. Just today I bought Meguires Ultimate Polish (Pre wax glaze) and got Meguires NXT Tech Wax Spray free (I say Y'Buy one, Y'Get one free, I say.....)...sorry. So, £15 off. That was from Halfords surprisingly - A bank holiday offer. The complete list of my kit is....

Meguires Claying system (Two blocks) - £25
Meguires 'Ultimate' Compound - £10
Meguires 'Ultimate' Polish - Pre waxing glaze - £10
Meguires 'Ultimate' Liquid Wax [Weekly wash] - £20
Meguires Mirror Glaze 16 Paste Wax [Deep clean, 4/Yr] - £12
Meguires NXT Tech Wax 2 [Emergency wash] - £15
Turtle Wax Black In A Flash Bumper and Trim Detailer - £5


Once you've done the initial outlay of £100 (Worst case) but more likely £60 with deals it costs about £35 a year to have access to the shiniest thing for miles around.


You could get all this kit from different manufacturers for about £50 but in my opinion Meguires products offer a finish and longevity that is second to none. If you've paid out a few grand for a car you really like (And lets be honest, none of us bought a 206cc for it's practicality, and more than few for it's aesthetics) surely it's worth a few extra quid to keep it looking as good as it possibly can look.


The interior cleaning regime is thankfully a lot simpler.
I have Meguires Gold Class Leather Cleaner & Conditioner - use that stuff once a month in winter and fornightly in summer (Weekly if we have a hot spell)
For the dash and plastics I have Meguires Ultimate Protectant Dash & Trim Restorer. It's one of those detailers that make the plastics shiny (There's a current trend to have a matt finish but I like shiny - Hence the Turtle Wax Bumper stuff) So I simply re-apply each time it loses it's shine.


Alloys - Take them off the car and scrub them with hot soapy & a scrubbing brush once a year. I use a fairy generic wheel cleaning fluid at this point (And actually use it all) I use the same wheel cleaner solution when I wash the car, every week. I make sure I put a coat of whatever wax I'm using on each week. This ensures that brake dust can be removed easily the following week and it keeps them cleaner, longer into the week.
I use the Turtle Wax Bumper Detailer (Diluted 1:1 with water) to condition and darken the tyre sidewalls.

And that's about it guys (Apart from a secondary cleaning routine, once a month) where I wash the inner arches, any muck build up on washable surfaces under the car and the engine bay to a sensible degree.
Although it may seem like it. I dont spend all my spare time preparing my car for a show it's not entered in. Need to leave some spare time for driving the thing